CONCERT REVIEW: PUP Make It Feel Like Friday On A Tuesday Night

My age is showing, but I can’t keep up with all the different pop-punk bands popping up all over the scene. I love the pop-punk revival, don’t get me wrong, but it’s hard to keep all of them apart because let’s face it, most of them exist of white men. I’m curious to find out how PUP is going to stand out during the show in the Melkweg’s Oude Zaal on Tuesday October 25.

Going into the venue, the lines for two shows are combined, which made it difficult to see who the audience is for tonight. I was happy to see the crowd was a very diverse mix, making me feel a little more at ease. The wait begins for the support act, Pom Pom Squad. Around the 8pm mark the audience feels antsy, ready for the show to start, but they kept us waiting a little while longer. I was very happily surprised to see a woman enter the stage, and then two other women followed her on the stage as well.

Mia Berrin, the frontwoman of the band, has spoken out about not seeing herself represented in pop music, as she is a woman of color. Like I stated earlier, I kinda expected something out of tonight and the appearance of this band completely shattered those expectations. Earlier this week Paramore’s Hayley Williams wrote an open letter about being a young girl in the scene, finding a place she could fit in. We’ve watched this scene grow into a place for young girls, queer kids and anybody of color. The theatrical appearance of Mia, her hair braided with ribbons and rocking in a short tulle skirt reminded me of her message and strengthens it. She’s not afraid to show her femininity and still be a badass with killer screams.

I had to actually remind myself that I was at the show for PUP tonight. Pom Pom Squad did a good job of making the crowd at ease with each other, which only made the crowd so much more hyped for the main act. From the very first notes of PUP playing, the moshing and crowdsurfing already begins. This is why I love this particular venue so much, its small stage making interaction between the audience and the band very easy. After the first song, lead singer Stefan Babcock asks for one thing: for us to look around and say hi to the people around you. They are your friends and strangers all there for the same thing, to have fun. After covering the basics, he also holds up a key that someone already seemed to have lost in the one song they played. It will be one of many items making their way to the front, including more locker keys, ID’s, cellphones, shoes and T-shirts.

“You are making it feel like Friday on this Tuesday”, Stefan states as well, loving the audience’s reaction to them. It also feels like a show the midst of summer, not in the end of October, because the heat radiating from the crowd is intense. There’s a mosh during his stage banter, followed quickly by stage diving. Some of the audience even showing off their backflips on stage before diving back in. A couple of men are being escorted out because they overheated to the point of fainting. Stefan gets so carried away with the enthusiasm too, he starts singing the wrong song mid-set, just pushing through with the song that’s supposed to be later on in the set. The enthusiasm can be heard from the other side of the venue; some of the audience from Duncan Laurence (performing in the Max) bleeding over into the Oude Zaal, to see what it’s all about.
The enthusiasm is really speaking for PUP, making the show being more than just a generic pop-punk band. Musically there might be room to grow their voice more, to stand out from all their peers in the scene right now, but the feeling they left with me is the thing that sticks the most. PUP made an effort to make everyone feel welcome tonight, showing in their choice of support act, the big trans flag on the speaker on the left of the stage, and the interaction with the crowd. You can experience some of this feeling through the pictures below.